Believe In Love
by Krokador
Summary: Ino throws a party for Valentine's Day and invites a lot of people, including Sakura. Bit of fluff, slight, real slight yuri InoSaku .


_Meh It's 0:40 and I get up at 6:00am xD (I'll do the spellchecking and such some other time...) Blah, I decided to write about this on a whim. I despise Valentine's Day normally, but I thought this could be cute. Bit of fluff, bit of angst, bit of funniness. Slight yuri hint at the end. _

_I do not own Naruto, nor any of its characters/justsus/cliché jokes. It's Kishimoto's property, and I guess it's better that way. _

_Oh yeah, I'll give cinnamon heart candies to the reviewers! _

_...Edity Edit... I corrected a few typos, added a few words or specifications here and there. Me at 1 am isn't the best thing to correct stories, lol! After re-reading I realized that I've done better. I've included many details that don't serve a darn purpose, and I probably neglected most of the other (mostly random) couples. But I wanted to make that short(ish) so well.. yep this is what you have lol. Oh yea, Yuhika, if you've read Promise of a Leaf and noticed, is Hanmaru Dasane's sister. That said, it might help some of you picture her a little better. Oh, And I love Kiba, kay? I just felt like giving him a silly role just this once, and it fits him good, I think._

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**Believe In Love**

"Tss, Valentine's day is such a stupid holiday. It's all commercial and stuff. Not even worth my bother!" Sakura exclaimed when Ino invited her over to her house for a party she had thoroughly been planning for weeks now.

"Come on forehead! I just can't have a nice party without you, you know!"

"You've thrown a bunch while we were rivals, I don't see why it would change anything now…"

Barely loud enough for Sakura to hear, Ino mumbled her answer. "It never was the same, too…" Sakura sighed, seemingly reconsidering the offer, but she finally waved it off once more. "Nope, I'm not going."

"Is it because you don't have anyone to go with?" Ino asked, pretty sure she had found out the reason why her friend was refusing to come. A slight blush crept on Sakura's face as she looked down, crossing her arms over her chest. "I have no clue where you got that idea, pig." She retorted, her voice pretty much giving it away. Ino bounced up, happy to have been right, and also looking forward to what would come next. "I'll find you a date, Sakura-chan!" She said in a bubbly voice. The pink haired girl gave her a narrowed eyes glare -the kind that makes you wonder if you should laugh at or be scared of – and grunted. "Oh please, I swear I won't try to match you with Chouji!" Ino giggled and smiled brightly. If possible, Sakura's expression fell even more.

"I do NOT trust your ability to match me with anyone. How are you going to make anyone want to go out with me, anyway?" She asked, defeated. It was true, she had failed at getting Sasuke to like her. She had wasted her chance with Naruto. And the other guys didn't really… appeal to her.

Ino tossed her bangs back and smiled seductively, with that spark of light flashing on her white teeth. "Nobody can resist the charm of a Yamanaka. I don't do all of these diets for nothing!" At Sakura's lack of enthusiasm, she turned a little more serious and tried to find her friend's gaze. "Please Sakura-chan, you don't even want to know who **I** will go with? Or who I have in mind for you?"

Sakura looked up a bit and shrugged. "Do tell?"

Ino shook her head with a glint in her eyes and a smirk on her lips. "Nope, you'll have to come to figure it out!"

Sakura humpfed, turning her head to the side. "Not like I care…"

Ino's eyebrow began to twitch as she fought back the urge to call her friend a liar. Somehow she knew Sakura did care, and would just find a different way to figure it out, but she wasn't going to lose to her favorite rival. Her expression turned to pleading as she clung onto Sakura's arm, pulling the pink haired girl towards her slightly in hopes to make an effect. "Please Sakura. It really isn't the same when you're not there."

Once more, Sakura sighed. She looked into Ino's beautiful eyes for a moment, and then resigned herself. "Okay…" Ino nearly jumped to the ceiling – save they were outside – at her friend's answer. "**BUT!**" Ino hit her forehead with her palm. _Should've seen it coming… _"Do not, I repeat, do NOT match me with Inuzuka either." That was her condition? Well it wasn't so bad. "Don't you worry, no smelly dog boy for my precious Sakura's Valentine's day."

The conversation carried on about how often, in a week, Kiba would take his shower, and how Hinata and Shino could stand it. Overall it was just girl talk, and the two friends were having a good time.

Came the 'V' day, Sakura was looking at herself in the mirror. Since Ino was so busy being the hostess at her own party, she had been left on her own to choose her clothing and do her make-up. She had chosen a light crimson dress that went down to her knees. For a moment she had debated putting on heels, but her memory of the last time she had tried convinced her flat sandals were just as pretty, and much more comfortable. She had her short hair pretty much left on it's own, with a few wild fringes falling over her, now that she was looking at it, not so wide forehead. Just a hint of lipstick, and eyeliner added a touch to her already bright features. She was pretty proud of the result.

She made her way to Ino's place a bit early, intent on helping the blonde a bit with what was left of the preparation, but the blonde was more than ready when she got there. She was wearing a black dress - a color that, Sakura noticed, really accentuated the curves of her body, compared to the usual purple she wore - and she was radiating. Whoever would be Ino's date that night would be, she thought, the luckiest guy in the world. After making sure everything was ready, they both sat on the couch and used the free time to chit chat until the rest of the guests would arrive.

The first one to show up was, to both girl's surprise - and quite early too - Shikamaru. Sakura instantly made two and two and smiled at the lazy boy almost proudly, which caused him to - barely - raise an eyebrow. "Hi Sakura, hi Ino." He said as he surveyed the living room over the two girl's head. "I... bah this is so bothersome..." He said as he removed his jacket and made his way into the house, digging around in his pockets on the way. He finally removed his hand taking out a crumpled piece of paper, tried to straighten it out, and flopped down on the couch giving up. "Would you guys mind giving me your _honest_ opinion on the poem I wrote for Temari?"

Ino and Sakura exchanged confused glances, Sakura surprised that Shika was not Ino's date, and both to hear that he had written a _poem_. Him, the lazy guy with a sky high IQ, had used the other side of his brain, and what more, for one of the '_troublesome_' girls he despised. They accepted, Sakura giggling and Ino still frowning, and Shikamaru started reciting.

_Oh you beautiful and pretty flower  
You're like a cloud reflecting in the river  
When I look at you I'm so calm and serene  
Like I'm bathing under the sun, looking up at the sky  
The light breeze of your breath caressing  
My heart that belongs to you, butterfly_

Both girls stared at the young man in awe. The poem was short, but cute, and to anyone who knew Shikamaru, being compared to a cloud was quite something. "Temari'll be... err nevermind, we're talking about sand village Temari..." Sakura said as she tried to make Shikamaru understand what she thought about the poem. Ino was more direct. "You'll have her in your bed easy with that, Shika." She said with a wink. The boy blushed and shoved the paper back into his pocket, avoiding eye contact with the blonde.

The doorbell rang once more, and Ino made her way to the door to greet the newcomers and let them in. It was Naruto and Hinata, hand in hand. The kyuubi vessel had one of his trademark bright, goofy smile on, and the Hyuuga heir wore her usual shy expression. They were both, surprisingly in naruto,s case, very well dressed. "Hey Ino, Hey Sakura-chan, heya Shikamaru!" The hyperactive boy nearly shouted as he made his way into the living room. The girl by his side waved timidly. "Who-who else is coming?" Hinata asked as she took a seat next to Naruto and Sakura, addressing her question mainly at Ino who had stayed up. "Well um, let's see. There's Kiba, and Shino, and Chouji, Tenten, Temari, Lee, Neji… am I missing someone?" Sakura turned her head to her friend with a questioning glare. "Do they all have someone to come with?" She asked, hoping to have some of the suspense relieved. Ino smirked at her. "That you will see, forehead."

Just as she said that, the doorbell rang once more, and without even waiting to be answered, Kiba barged in with Akamaru in tow, a girl about his height following suit with a guilty look on her face, her own dog cowering behind her. "Howdy everyone!" Kiba shouted, a grin on his face. Akamaru barked in approval and Ino motioned for the other girl to also get in before closing the door again, shaking her head.

Hinata was staring at the new girl. "Oh, yeah, all and everyone, this is Yuhika, and the dog's Kimiriu." Kiba proudly exclaimed, making his girlfriend blush a deep shade of red.

Then Tenten arrived with Neji, Lee was on his own, surprisingly enough, and somehow Sakura dreaded that he was her date for the night. Temari showed up with both Chouji and Gaara's apprentice, Matsuri. And Shino never came, or he was really, really late. "Well I guess we could start the party then…" Ino finally announced, a bit disappointed that some of the people she had invited hadn't showed up. "Ohh, what do we do first?" Naruto asked eagerly, causing Hinata to giggle. "Well first, let's be completely wild and watch an horror movie, right?" Nearly everyone frowned at the idea, but then agreed without much of an argument. it sure was an original idea for a Valentine's Day party.

And so, sitting everywhere possible on the living room's couch and on the floor, the bunch of shinobis watched "The Rusted Kunai Massacre IX" together. All along, Sakura couldn't help but notice that Ino had an absent look. And that Lee didn't look like he cared about that whole dating thing at all. She had figured that, since the boy had had a crush on her for a while, he would've already made a move, but he was just idly sitting in his spot watching the movie intently.

At some point, during a particularly gore-y scene, Sakura couldn't help but tear her gaze away from the screen, and her eyes fell on Ino once more. This was puzzling, why wasn't she with anyone? She had been so eager to throw that party, and in the end had ended up being ditched by whoever she had invited for herself? Well that was kind of sad. Everyone else was already cuddling, and Kiba was even kissing his girlfriend through the gut-twisting show they had in front of them. It was rather disturbing… And Sakura couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

She was jerked out of her thoughts when Ino's hand grabbed her arm and the blonde jumped up from her seat a little at a particularly disgusting moment. Sakura only caught a glimpse of the action from the corner of her eyes and felt like throwing up, so instead she returned her attention to her friend. They had gotten incredibly closer lately, so much that at times she wondered how they could've broke apart in the first place. She valued her friend over everything else, and it was reciprocated. She reached up and put her hand over Ino's, smiling when the blonde's gaze met hers. "Such a good idea you had, Ino-chan…" Sakura whispered near Ino's ear, a hint of sarcasm perceptible in her tone. "Well I think it's a success…" Ino answered, pointing to everyone cuddling with their dates, save once again Lee who was on his own. "What's up with Lee? He's alone yet he's still smiling so bright as if he didn't care." Sakura asked, quite intent on finding out. "Don't tell me he's my date…" She continued. Ino gave her a shrug. "No… both you and mine's date didn't show up apparently…" Ino sighed. "And that was what I was looking forward to." She added with a pout. Sakura gave her an understanding look and squeezed her friend's hand a bit. "It's fine. But you gotta tell me who you had in mind."

Ino giggled and smiled at Sakura. "I'll tell you later, I need to be a hostess now…" She said, pointing to the screen that was showing the movie's credits. "That was a fun movie." Kiba said, smiling. Hinata was still cowering into Naruto's chest, and Neji clinging to Tenten. Chouji wasn't digging in his bag of chips, and Matsuri was sitting really close to him. It was a pretty sight. "So what do we do next?" Lee asked, standing up to put more emphasis on his question. He was burning with a desire to do something other than just sitting there and that much was obvious. "Oh, we could play truth or dare!" Kiba proposed. "Oh, yeah!" Naruto agreed eagerly. Sakura and Ino's face, as well as most of everyone else's, took on a 'what-the-fuck' expression, Ino's eyebrow even twitching under the silliness of that suggestion. "That is **so** last decade!" She said in a bitchy way, humpfing afterwards. Sakura went her way. "Come on we played those games when we were kids, we're grown ups now…" She said, surveying the room slowly. "Most of us are, anyway…" she muttered under her breathe at no one's attention in particular.

"I totally agree with that." Neji, who had been quiet up until then, agreed too. "If you play that stupid game, I'm outta here." He added, earning a disappointed 'aww' from both Naruto and Kiba. Ino shook her head and massaged her forehead. "I had something a bit more romantic planned, candle dinner!"

Hinata's eyes grew wide, and her skin was paler than usual. "After t-that movie you think you can still eat?" Kiba smirked. "Hinata's right, we should do some other thing before dinner, like playing a game of truth or…" He was slapped in the back of the head by Yuhika and never finished his sentence, choosing to rub at his now painful neck instead. Just then the door in the entrance slammed shut, and everyone instantly noticed that Shikamaru and Temari were already gone. Ino's shoulders slumped. That was really lame of them to leave this early… Sakura frowned and when she noticed Ino's expression she thought she understood what was going on. She realized that she was still holding the blonde's hand, and gave it yet another squeeze as she looked at her friend.

"So what do we do then?" Tenten asked, stiffling a yawn. Neji noted and yawned as well – although it was obvious his' was faked. "Meh I'm kind of tired, I wouldn't mind some sleep…" Ino rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can all leave, just go have your sex if that's all you guys have in mind!" She nearly screamed as she got out of Sakura's grip and stood up. Everyone's expression turned to some sort of guilt, but since it had been mentioned… Well only Lee didn't obey. He walked up to Sakura while Ino was off getting a glass of water and blushed. "Erm Sakura, I've been huh… well. I came here hoping to be your date…" He mumbled, scratching at the back of his neck sheepishly. " Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Ino asked you?" Lee's eyes grew wide. "N-no! Not at all!" He now had fire in his eyes. "The power of youth shall not agree to things such as arranged meetings. Ino invited me, and said I could bring a date. But I wanted you to be my date, Sakura."

Sakura smiled faintly and sighed. "I'm sorry Lee. I don't really want a date. I just, well…" Lee put his hand up to stop her from talking. "Yeah I figured so when I saw your expression earlier. I just wanted you to know I was there… Yeah." He said with little conviction, in a serious tone that wasn't his'. Sakura smiled for real this time. "Thank you, Lee." She said. The well dressed (aka not wearing his horrible green suit) Rock Lee saluted and smiled back. "Well I'll be on my way then. Happy Valentine's day!" Sakura shook her head and giggled. "Yep, you too Lee."

Noting that Ino still wasn't back from getting that glass of water, Sakura decided to go check on her friend. She found her slumped against the wall of her kitchen, apparently sobbing. Frowning in concern, she sat next to the blonde and put a hand around her shoulders. "I'm sorry your party's turned out so bad." Sakura said, repressing a 'I told you so, Valentine's Day is evil' as she said so. Ino sniffled and looked at her. "You're still here?" She asked, apparently not believing that Sakura would've stayed through it all. She was the most reluctant to come in the first place, after all. "Well, yes. I wasn't going to leave you all alone on Valentine's Day, right? After all, friendship is a kind of love too, isn't it?" Ino smiled faintly and burried her face into Sakura's shoulder. "Shikamaru was supposed to be your date, right?" Sakura asked as she hugged her friend. Ino apparently nodded into her shoulder and sobbed harder. "And Shino was mine?" She pushed on, wanting to find out. Ino looked up at her for a moment, and then, unable to hold Sakura's gaze while she was saying this, she closed her eyes. "Sakura, I wanted **you** to be my date tonight."

It was said, there was no turning back now. Ino started shaking nervously, thinking that this was it, and that her party really was ruined now. "Oh." Was Sakura's only reply, before she pulled her friend closer and began stroking her back. She had confused Ino's shaking for a nod, what stupidity. So it never was about Shikamaru to begin with, but just seeing everyone else getting along and her… not being able to open her heart to the one she truly loved, it must've been really hard on her.

Sakura sighed softly and kissed the top of the blonde's head. As she realized Sakura wasn't letting her go, Ino's shaking slowly receded until she finally found her voice. "You're… okay with it?" She asked, dreading the answer. "I don't know…" Sakura said thoughtfully. Ino winced, now nothing would be the same anymore, and she had probably lost her best friend all because of some silly crush she had developed out of the blue.

"This might need a bit of getting used to. If it's what I think." Sakura added as she ruffled up Ino's hair playfully, smiling to the other girl. Ino smiled back tentatively. "I love you, Ino." The pink haired girl then stated seriously. She was looking deep into the sky blue orbs in front of her now. "I might need to review to what extent, but I know I do."

A few more tears made their way down Ino's cheek, but she wasn't sobbing or shaking anymore. Simply taking it all in. Sakura reached up and brushed a few tears off with her thumb, lingering a bit, and Ino leant into her touch. "I love you Sakura."


End file.
